“Li Zhen, are you serious?”
Shao Xuji stared intently at Li Zhen, fury rising in his eyes and a slight tremor in his voice.
What did he mean by this?
Was he forcing the emperor from the throne?
Did he truly think Shao Xuji would not dare dismiss him?
In his eyes, Li Zhen’s actions were an outright attempt to force the emperor from the throne!
“That is indeed what I intend. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust over the years, and thank you all for your cooperation. May we establish peace in our respective realms and never meet again!”
After speaking, Li Zhen gave a graceful bow and turned to leave.
He did not even give them another chance to speak!
Throwing down a plate? Fine, then he would flip the whole table!
What an ungrateful wretch. Shao Xuji must have forgotten how he had once pleaded with Li Zhen, tears streaming from both eyes, begging for his help.
Thunder and rain, both are the ruler’s grace?
What a joke.
He was Li Zhen, the foremost civil official in Great Yu, the man who had single-handedly supported the people of the realm!
If this place will not keep me, there will always be somewhere else that will!
And he was only twenty years old!
Did they think he was already on the verge of death?
Not one extra word of nonsense.
“Li Zhen, once you leave, do not even think of coming back! Step across that threshold, and from this day onward, you and I will sever all ties! We will have nothing more to do with each other!” Shao Xuji panicked and, disregarding etiquette, walked down the imperial steps, pointing at Li Zhen’s retreating back and shouting angrily.
His voice sounded as though it were tearing apart.
“Our ties? Your Majesty, do you still remember what you said to me beneath White Horse Temple all those years ago? If I stay any longer, I truly fear that one day you will take my life!”
Li Zhen spoke softly without slowing his steps, but his words filled the civil and military officials with fear.
Was he actually accusing the Son of Heaven?
How dare he!
Shao Xuji fell silent for a moment!
Back then, beneath White Horse Temple, he had wept bitterly and held Li Zhen’s hand as though they were true brothers.
“If you do not betray me, I will never betray you!”
But he was the emperor!
Seeing her older brother like this, Shao Xuxue flew into a rage. Was it not merely a demotion to Prefect of the Capital? No one had said he could never be reinstated in the future.
He was making far too much of it!
She immediately went to stand beside her older brother.
“Li Zhen, if you step through that door, our engagement is annulled as well! A true man knows when to bend and when to stand straight. Without weathering the storm, how can you see the rainbow? If you leave, I will consider myself mistaken about you!”
Her cool voice was like a sharp blade stabbing into Li Zhen’s chest.
Did she think he was doing this over a mere Official Position?
If Shao Xuji could demote him, then in the future he could dismiss him, exile him, or even kill him!
If he agreed today, his life would no longer be in his own hands!
And Shao Xuxue’s words were even more laughable.
As his fiancée, instead of speaking up for him, she stood beside her older brother and threatened him?
What a joke!
If husband and wife could not share the same heart, what meaning was there in such a marriage?
And she was even trying to manipulate him?
To hell with her rainbow!
“Princess, do as you please! As a mere commoner, I am truly unworthy of you! Let us part in peace and each live well!”
After speaking, Li Zhen left the main palace hall without the slightest hesitation.
Shao Xuxue furrowed her brows. Li Zhen was simply insane!
Insane!
How could the Li Zhen who had always been so polite and modest toward her speak like this?
As he walked out of the main palace hall, snowflakes drifted down from the sky before Li Zhen’s eyes.
He extended a hand and watched the snowflakes melt in his palm, then suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahahahaha! Who says Heaven is not a gracious host? It sends wind and snow to see one man off! Magnificent!”
Li Zhen’s uninhibited laughter was deafening.
Many officials in the main palace hall turned around to look.
Amid the wind and snow,
a figure stood firm and unyielding.
The proud backbone of a scholar had taken tangible form in that moment!
Even Li Zhen’s political enemies felt a surge of admiration for him.
Under the gazes of everyone in Great Yu—from the Son of Heaven down to the civil and military officials and the palace eunuchs—the figure vanished into the wind and snow.
Shao Xuji swept his dragon robe, climbed the imperial steps, and glared furiously. His imperial aura burst forth, casting a shadow over the main palace hall.
“Issue an edict. Strip Li Zhen of his duke title and cancel all his privileges. Did he not wish to Retire and Return to One’s Hometown? I shall grant his wish. From today onward, he is no longer the chancellor of Great Yu. He is a mere commoner.
Take back his residence and cancel the engagement. I want him to kneel before me and beg!”
His deafening voice represented the fury he felt at that moment.
It had always been the ruler who betrayed his ministers. When had anyone ever heard of a minister daring to resign without the Son of Heaven’s approval?
Shao Xuxue’s cool face remained utterly unmoved.
Li Zhen had brought this entirely upon himself.
He thought far too highly of himself.
Great Yu would continue to exist without anyone.
At that moment, Shao Xuxue felt that her imperial brother had done exactly the right thing. If they did not cut down his arrogance now, who knew what trouble he might cause in the future?
All the officials bowed.
Yet each harbored different thoughts.
Li Zhen’s reforms were still underway in Great Yu, and the powerful nobles and great clans had not yet been completely eradicated.
Now that he was gone, who could oversee this work?
At any rate, no one present possessed the ability.
Below the imperial steps, a man in golden armor stared intently at Shao Xuxue, his eyes filled with delight.
He was Zhao Bugui, the tiger general personally bestowed by the Son of Heaven of Great Yu.
He was in love with Shao Xuxue.
Now that the troublesome Li Zhen was finally gone,
he had a chance!
That pretty boy had never been worthy of Zhao Bugui’s notice.
A woman like Shao Xuxue, radiant as the blazing sun, ought to be matched with a magnificent man like him!
……
Capital City.
Tianning Ward.
With a tremendous crash!
The plaque of the duke’s Residence fell to the ground and was smashed to pieces!
Li Zhen felt no discomfort at all as he watched this scene. Instead, he applauded and cheered!
All the servants in the residence had already been dismissed when he returned, and each had received a generous sum of silver!
No one would believe that a chancellor had no money. He had plenty!
“Chancellor Li, His Majesty has ordered this place reclaimed. Please, you…” The Minister of Revenue looked at Li Zhen awkwardly.
“Understood. Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t cause you any trouble. I haven’t touched anything in the rooms, so you can handle things without concern!”
Li Zhen smiled and waved his hand, then took hold of a white horse. He wore jade-colored brocade robes.
Anyone who saw him would have to praise him: a man as beautiful as jade, an unmatched gentleman beneath Heaven!
“Chancellor Li, His Majesty merely wants you to lower your head and admit your mistake. Then this matter will be over.
Why put yourself through this?”
The Minister of Revenue sighed and spoke slowly.
Li Zhen glanced back at him, then shouted.
“Giddy-up!”
Li Zhen had a longsword at his waist. He squeezed the horse with his legs, and the white horse galloped away.
He had already decided not to remain in Great Yu. In his previous life, he had always wanted to see the grasslands, but various circumstances had prevented him from doing so.
Now he had the chance!
He had already claimed the System’s reward. True Qi circulated endlessly through his body, and he could now shatter the stone lion at the gate with a single slap.
Now that he possessed the power to protect himself, why not roam freely through the martial world?
Why stay here and suffer this kind of abuse?
No matter where he went, it would still be the same. The emperor would remain the emperor; that position was destined to extinguish their humanity!
Or perhaps he could wait until he had had enough fun,
then overthrow him and take the throne himself!
That was not impossible!
The Minister of Revenue watched his departing back and shook his head.
Still too young!
How much was a scholar’s integrity really worth?
He clasped his hands behind his back and entered the courtyard.
When he saw the words on the wall, his pupils contracted.
“You are a wolf from mount Zhong!”
“Once you gain power, you become ferocious!”
He knew perfectly well who these words referred to.
Li Zhen, Li Zhen!
You were simply insane!
How dare you write something like this?
He could no longer conceal it for him, even if he wanted to.
There were far too many pairs of eyes watching.
This was truly a path to death!
“Someone, make rubbings of these two lines of verse and send them into the Imperial Palace!”
Within the Imperial Palace.
Shao Xuji looked at the two lines of verse, snorted coldly, and casually tossed them aside.
In his view, this was merely Li Zhen’s final act of arrogance.
Surely, in a few days, he would return and bow his head to admit his mistake!
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